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706.02(j) Contents of a 35 U.S.C. 103 Rejection
706.02(j) Contents of a 35 U.S.C. 103 Rejection
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35 U.S.C. 103 authorizes a rejection where, to meet the claim, it is necessary to modify a single reference or to combine it with one or more other references.
After indicating that the rejection is under 35 U.S.C. 103, the examiner should set forth in the Office action:
- the relevant teachings of the prior art relied upon, preferably with reference to the relevant column or page number(s) and line number(s) where appropriate,
- the difference or differences in the claim over the applied reference(s),
- the proposed modification of the applied reference(s) necessary to arrive at the claimed subject matter, and
- an explanation as to why the claimed invention would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made.
Where a reference is relied on to support a rejection, whether or not in a minor capacity, that reference should be positively included in the statement of the rejection.
